ScienceDaily: Selective Brain Damage Modulates Human Spirituality, Research Reveals

[China]

Selective Brain Damage Modulates Human Spirituality, Research Reveals

ScienceDaily (Feb. 11, 2010) — New research provides fascinating insight into brain changes that might underlie alterations in spiritual and religious attitudes. The study, published by Cell Press in the February 11 issue of the journal Neuron, explores the neural basis of spirituality by studying patients before and after surgery to remove a brain tumor.

Although it is well established that all behaviors and experiences, spiritual or otherwise, must originate in the brain, true empirical exploration of the neural underpinnings of spirituality has been challenging. However, recent advances in neuroscience have started to make the complex mental processes associated with religion and spirituality more accessible.

"Neuroimaging studies have linked activity within a large network in the brain that connects the frontal, parietal, and temporal cortexes with spiritual experiences, but information on the causative link between such a network and spirituality is lacking," explains lead study author, Dr. Cosimo Urgesi from the University of Udine in Italy.

Dr. Urgesi and colleagues were interested in making a direct link between brain activity and spirituality. They focused specifically on the personality trait called self-transcendence (ST), which is thought to be a measure of spiritual feeling, thinking, and behaviors in humans. ST reflects a decreased sense of self and an ability to identify one's self as an integral part of the universe as a whole.

The researchers combined analysis of ST scores obtained from brain tumor patients before and after they had surgery to remove their tumor, with advanced techniques for mapping the exact location of the brain lesions after surgery. "This approach allowed us to explore the possible changes of ST induced by specific brain lesions and the causative role played by frontal, temporal, and parietal structures in supporting interindividual differences in ST," says researcher Dr. Franco Fabbro from the University of Udine.

The group found that selective damage to the left and right posterior parietal regions induced a specific increase in ST. "Our symptom-lesion mapping study is the first demonstration of a causative link between brain functioning and ST," offers Dr. Urgesi. "Damage to posterior parietal areas induced unusually fast changes of a stable personality dimension related to transcendental self-referential awareness. Thus, dysfunctional parietal neural activity may underpin altered spiritual and religious attitudes and behaviors."

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[alexey]

I wonder how they measure this "self-transcendence (ST)"....

[China]

I wonder how they measure this "self-transcendence (ST)"....

Apparently they have scoring systems: the Self-Transcendence Scale and the Purpose-in-Life Test .

[Larry]

Wow. Amazed this thread hasn't turned into a mutual bashing thread, yet.

Closest I can come to making a statement about the actual science involved is:

I wonder if there's an increase in spirituality after, say, cardiac bypass?

Is it, perhaps, possible, that having major surgery, potentially life-saving or -ending surgery, might cause an alteration in people's world view?

[Teller]

Wow. Amazed this thread hasn't turned into a mutual bashing thread, yet.

Closest I can come to making a statement about the actual science involved is:

I wonder if there's an increase in spirituality after, say, cardiac bypass?

Is it, perhaps, possible, that having major surgery, potentially life-saving or -ending surgery, might cause an alteration in people's world view?

The old, "there are no atheists in a foxhole" theory. Makes sense.

[Enter Apotheosis]

I got the same impression. This study merely suggests that spirituality is part of a coping mechanism.

[Koolblue13]

I got the same impression. This study merely suggests that spirituality is part of a coping mechanism.

Isn't it?

[alexey]

Isn't it?

It's certainly much more than that... It appears to have offered a number of evolutionary advantages, at least during early stages of human evolution.

Now its effects are largely detrimental, but according to the article all it takes is a little snip-snip in the brain

[Koolblue13]

It's certainly much more than that... It appears to have offered a number of evolutionary advantages, at least during early stages of human evolution.

Now its effects are largely detrimental, but according to the article all it takes is a little snip-snip in the brain

Now where is that gay gene?:pfft:

Looking at the questionnaire, I have to think if this would be about the gay, it would be extremely funny to read.

[Perky72]

Too medically ignorant to have much opinion on the article, except "Although it is well established that all behaviors and experiences, spiritual or otherwise, must originate in the brain" is a pretty bold statement in the context of an article on spiritualism. And not only that, but materialism versus dualism. I guess it's a hard science article, but still seems a crafty rhetorical choice to include that assertion.

The old, "there are no atheists in a foxhole" theory. Makes sense.

It does make some sense, but I've talked to servicemen atheists and that quip drives some of them crazy. Some "denials" of the truth of the phrase:

http://www.maaf.info/expaif.html (list of atheists in foxholes)

http://ffrf.org/outreach/atheists-in-foxholes/ (monument to atheists in foxholes)

[alexey]

Now where is that gay gene?:pfft:

Bonobos kept most of it

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonobo#Sexual_social_behavior

Bonobos are the only non-human animal to have been observed engaging in all of the following sexual activities: face-to-face genital sex, tongue kissing, and oral sex.

...

...They also do not seem to discriminate in their sexual behavior by sex or age, with the possible exception of abstaining from sexual intercourse between mothers and their adult sons; some observers believe these pairings are taboo. When Bonobos come upon a new food source or feeding ground, the increased excitement will usually lead to communal sexual activity, presumably decreasing tension and allowing for peaceful feeding.

It's an interesting approach to relieving tension and resolving conflict...

[Veretax]

I'd like to cirtique, but I can't understand what the excerpt was saying. I doubt I'd understand their babel on the original article either.